Andrea Stella confirms McLaren F1 won’t limit Norris and Piastri after Canada GP incident, favouring merit-based racing over control.
The McLaren F1 team principal does not wish to restrict his drivers’ freedom to race, despite the first on-track clash that occurred in Canada. Andrea Stella is not concerned about an escalation, even though Lando Norris admitted to a mistake that led to his retirement after making contact with teammate Oscar Piastri.
“Freedom to race and clarity on how we race are core values of racing, and values we aim to uphold and practice as much as possible, rather than resorting to team control every time the two cars are close to each other,” said Stella.
“We want to give Lando and Oscar opportunities to fight and to be in the position they deserve at the end of the season—based on merit, performance, and the quality of racing they’ve shown throughout the year—rather than reaching the season’s end and realising that points were more influenced by team orders than by their own driving.”
“This isn’t necessarily a simple or straightforward exercise, but we aim to handle it as best we can. I therefore don’t believe the incident in Canada will change our approach in this regard.”
The Italian expects a constructive discussion but prefers to have it with a clear head once emotions have cooled and lessons can be drawn: “If that’s the case, it will reinforce the principles we already have, which require our drivers to be more cautious.”
“Because if we say there must be no contact between the two McLarens, we need to have the necessary margins to ensure that—especially considering that in a DRS situation, one car can get pulled in slightly and misjudge the distance, leading to this kind of mistake.”
“In the heat of the moment, it can seem like a complete disaster. But in reality, what makes great drivers and a strong culture is the ability to handle such episodes, analyse them, take away all the positive lessons, and dismiss what doesn’t need to be factored into how we race in the future.”
“That’s the mindset we all have at McLaren, and I think the way Lando handled the situation proves it. It’s certainly the type of conversation we’ll be having not just with our drivers, but with the entire team.”
“We rely on our culture, which is very strong, and we use these episodes—once emotions have cooled and our minds are clearer than they are in the heat of the action—to become a stronger team with two stronger drivers.”
From a purely sporting perspective, Stella is satisfied with the progress made over the weekend but regrets the lack of pace: “It was a tough weekend for the team in terms of both performance and results. From a performance standpoint, we managed to improve the competitiveness of the MCL39 thanks to good work from the team and drivers.”
“In the race, we stayed in contention for the podium, but we didn’t have the advantage we enjoyed in previous races this season. We now have a few things to review to ensure we’re back in the fight to win races at upcoming events.”